Before My World Ends
by Crowned Sky
Summary: Humanity's struggle to survive becomes more and more arduous as new threats are unveiled, both beyond and within the walls. It seems that the fate of mankind is left in the hands of three friends, each trying to make it in this cruel, but beautiful world. All the while dreaming that one day, together, they can be free. AU
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan.**

"If you're going through hell, keep going."

-Winston Churchill

Prologue

The metronomic drip of water from an unseen crack in the ceiling was all she had to mark the passage of time, but even then it was questionable at best. It still didn't inform her whether it was day or night, though it shouldn't have mattered as much if she was privy to such a trivial fact or not. It wasn't like she was ever going to leave this foul cell.

An unnatural, damp chill had befallen her prison, working deep into the stone so that her entire enclosure felt like ice. Her ill-fitting tunic did little to stave off the cold, the thin material merely meant to keep her clothed for the sake of propriety.

In an effort to both keep warm and occupied, she began a series of exercises designed to keep her sharp and disciplined. She started with a set of push-ups with her knuckles to get the blood pumping, eventually finishing the set of a hundred with one arm behind her back. Next came the sit-ups, and by the end of that she was working up a sweat, but at least she was warm.

She was about finish off with a round of pull-ups when she heard the basement door creak open, bringing her immediate pause. As the cadence of footsteps grew louder and louder, she quickly scrambled to the darkest corner to sit in huddled meekness. By the time her jailer arrived, she was putting on a good show of appearing cold, although some of it wasn't an act.

The door to her cell was unlocked and opened slowly. She was half-expecting to have her daily meal dropped off for her, patiently waiting for the tray to be thrown unceremoniously in with the usual disregard. Instead, she was greeted with the unfamiliar sight of a rigid silhouette whose features she could not make out in the dense shadows that darkened his figure.

A few tense seconds passed where not a word was said. Despite not being able to see the man's face clearly—she was almost certain the figure was male judging by his solid build—she knew that he was appraising her critically, perhaps waiting to see how she would act to an unprecedented disturbance.

Briefly she entertained the notion of acting wild like all the soldiers that she'd come into contact with were always expecting her to, but the thought passed quickly and with it her interest. If this man was unsatisfied with what he saw, then perhaps it was about time people started reassessing the preconceived notions they had of her, because she was not about to play into their beliefs.

She tightened the hold she had on her legs and curled further into herself, wanting nothing more than for the man to leave so that she could return to her training. If she kept this submissive act up, maybe he'd grow bored and leave.

Much to her dismay, her visitor chose then to speak.

"Are you the girl that the rumors are about?"

She shifted in her place, not certain of what he was getting at by phrasing his question in such a manner. Though she wouldn't have been very surprised if she had long since dissolved into whispered rumors that bordered on myth at this point. The years were immeasurable, and the only way she could tell that much time had passed was the shift from childhood into adulthood and the changes that had come with it.

"Are you the Titan?" he finally clarified, studying her for any sort of reaction to the inquiry.

A witty retort sprang to her tongue, but she remained tight lipped on the matter. Her cramped, dank cell was answer enough.

He must have realized this himself for he didn't repeat the question. Instead, he strode forward into the darkness with an air of confidence about him, unperturbed by whatever she was. With him away from the door, she could make out two more figures standing just outside, the taller of the two watching her with intense interest while the other, shorter person appeared rather disinterested.

Her attention was returned to the more prominent figure that had initially been at the doorway when he kneeled down in front of her, meeting her eyes.

"What do you want to do?" he asked her patiently, watching her intently with a leveled stare.

The question surprised her. In the years since her captivity, no one had ever posed such a question to her.

What _did_ she want to do? The obvious answer was to be set free, but the chances of that actually occurring were next to none. The military would never simply let her go, not when she was an alleged threat to humanity. Her freedom would only come with cooperation, whatever that entailed.

Still . . . there was something else that she wanted to do, something that was more important to her than her freedom.

Trembling fingers went up to the dirtied scarf woven around her neck, touching the frayed fabric as she imagined a scent that had long since faded. The gesture reminded her of words spoken long ago, words that had sustained her to this day several years later. Words that had kept her alive all this time in spite of the horrors she had faced.

Her answer initially came out as a garbled whisper, her voice soft from disuse. Steadily though her voice grew stronger as a rekindled determination started to burn inside her.

"F-Fight," she answered shrilly. "Fight!"

She repeated the word several times, not caring that it was shrouded in such ambiguous intentions. It was up to her visitor to decide what she meant, whether it was a blatant threat or a pledge of allegiance to mankind's plight.

The man nodded once and remarked, "I see . . ." before getting back to his feet.

She stared up at him defiantly as he turned his head to the door and ordered, "I want her brought to camp immediately to be cleaned up. We'll discuss her training from there."

There were murmured replies before the two others stepped inside. As they worked on the chains shackled to her wrists, she stared at the man in blatant disbelief, hardly able to believe what was happening or understand why he had even decided to trust her when no one else would.

She was going to be released from this lonely prison at the cost of being used as a tool by the military. Surprisingly, this proposition didn't bother her as much as it once had in the past. It was far better than the alternative, or even this state of limbo that being imprisoned had brought her to.

And it would also bring her one step closer to her long standing goal of reuniting with him—her family, her friend, her everything.

They would see each other again, and soon.

She was certain of it.


	2. All We Have Is Each Other

Ch. 1

**Year 850**

Rain poured down from the heavens in heavy sheets, saturating the land thoroughly enough for the once compact dirt to soften into thick mud. This only made training that the more challenging, forcing the young trainees to remain surefooted so that they wouldn't slip as they traversed through the watery terrain.

In spite of the unsavory elements added to what was usually a benign exercise, the pack of hopeful recruits would not be so easily dissuaded. They trudged on like they knew they should, pushing past the levels of discomfort in order to complete the routine warm-up lap.

There was only one who was having difficulty pressing through the already challenging task.

Armin Arlert struggled to keep up, something that was difficult to do with the rain getting in his eyes and the wind wildly tousling his fringe, not to mention the heavy pack that did nothing but slow him down. Even with the three years of training under his belt, he still hadn't built up the endurance needed to keep up with everyone else, a fact that the Head Instructor Keith Shadis continuously pointed out.

"Keep up the pace, Arlert!" barked Shadis as he pulled back on the reigns of his horse to trot alongside him. "You're falling behind!"

He fought an exasperated eye roll, more than a little aggravated that he was being reminded the obvious. It wasn't like he was doing it on purpose. Given the choice, he'd gladly be running up there in the middle of the pack instead of the poor soul struggling in the back. But unfortunately that wasn't the case.

If there was one thing he loathed, it was being weak and having others know it to be true.

"I suppose you think you don't need to be burdened like everyone else," Shadis added. "If this were real, you'd be nothing but bait for the Titans. Not even a worthy sacrifice." He pelted Armin with a few more taunts meant to chip away at his spirit before galloping ahead to give others some motivating insults.

Instead of feeling motivated though, all Armin felt was irritation and shame.

Why couldn't he get stronger like Eren, who was practically leading everyone through the dense forest trail? What was he doing wrong?

His foot suddenly caught the edge of an unearthed root, causing his heart to jolt uncomfortably in his chest as he wavered and stumbled. A hand curled tightly around his elbow before he could fall, the person effortlessly pulling him along as he reestablished his footing.

Armin looked over to see that it was none other than the dependable Reiner Braun who had come to his aid. Wordlessly the larger blonde took the pack from off of Armin with a rough jerk, shouldering it onto his broad back.

"At this rate, you'll be joining the dropouts." Reiner said gruffly. "Today's training is being graded."

A grimace passed briefly across Armin's face before remarking pointedly, "You'll lose points by helping me out."

"Not if we don't get caught. Now, don't make me change my mind," growled Reiner before pulling ahead of Armin even with the added weight of the extra pack.

Armin watched the distance between them steadily increase, renewed frustration with himself building. He despised being treated like the weakling he was. He'd rather die than be a burden to his comrades.

With a sudden burst of speed Armin surged forward, snagging back his bag as he passed Reiner. It was through sheer determination and force of will that kept him moving faster than his body could withstand, ignoring the burning of his lungs trying to warn him to slow down.

By the time they made it to their destination, a small clearing within the forest, Armin's vision was already distorted and beginning to spot, nausea churning in his stomach.

It was a sweet relief when they were finally allowed to stop. He collapsed almost immediately upon arrival, blacking out for the briefest of moments. When he came to, he found himself propped up against a tree with his pack placed at his side.

"You alright?"

Turning to the patient inquiry, Armin was mildly surprised to see Annie Leonhart settled beside him, watching the other cadets go about equipping their gear with a look of bored indifference. She then gave him a side-long glance out of the corner of her eye, waiting for his response.

Armin avoided meeting her gaze, instead bowing his head and staring at his lap. "I'm fine," he murmured, somewhat embarrassed that he was pathetic enough to warrant the concern from someone as cold hearted as Annie.

She nodded idly and handed him a canteen before getting to her feet. "Grading doesn't matter unless you're aiming to join the Military Police, something I doubt you'd do even if you were to miraculously make it to the top ten, so stop trying to push yourself for something that means nothing."

"You think I don't know that?" asked Armin, choking back his tears of shame. "Like I care about any of that. All I want is to not be a burden, but it seems like, no matter what I do or how hard I train, I'm still just this weakling that needs to be saved. I'm . . . I'm a damsel in distress."

Annie didn't know exactly what he meant by that, but she could tell by his bitter tone that he despised his lack of improvement over the course of three years.

"Lacking strength or skill does not make you weak," she remarked sagely. "What makes you weak is that you believe you are."

Armin stared up at her in slight awe, eyes wide and mouth open. He'd never expect to hear something like that from her, making such words that the more profound with their insight.

Was it really that simple? If he could convince himself the contrary, would he seize to be the burden that he was on his comrades?

For a while silence remained between them until Annie looked away and muttered, "Take small sips and wait a few minutes to catch your breath." She activated her gear and soared away before he could put in another word, left to watch her swing through the branches to the targets set up all throughout the clearing.

Armin watched his comrades enviously as they flew amongst the dense foliage, wishing he could be just like them.

* * *

><p>In the end, it came as no surprise to Armin that he didn't make it to the top ten. In fact, he was more thankful of the fact that he managed to pass at all. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with the humiliation of being one of the few dropouts who didn't make the score. Having the lowest score wasn't something to be proud off, but it was better than nothing.<p>

He was more than content though to bask in the warm glow of his best friend's glory, proud that he at least had made it into the top ten. If anyone deserved the honor, it was definitely Eren Jaeger.

Back at the Mess Hall, the squad of freshly graduated cadets decided to indulge in a celebratory dinner of sorts, chatting away about what branch they would be joining. And as per usual, Jean Kirstein was once again boasting about the relative ease it took for him to make it into the top ten.

Armin tried distracting his best friend with engaging conversation, but it was ultimately a loss cause. As soon Jean began one of his self-important, egotistical rants, Eren's focus would hone in on him and it had long since becoming a running bet of how long Jean could talk before Eren finally jumped in with an argument.

Unsurprising to nearly everyone there that night, Eren's patience had quickly worn thin.

"I can't wait to go," said Marco eagerly. "There's no greater honor than serving near the king."

Just as Marco was lifting his cup for a drink, Jean slapped him on the back of his head, spilling the beverage over his face. He turned to Jean in exasperation, gawking innocuously at his friend.

"Cut the noble crap," said Jean as he grinned knowingly back at Marco. "You want to join the Military Police because life deep inside the walls is soft and easy."

"No! I really do think that . . ." Marco began to insist until Eren's calm voice reached their ears and grabbed their attention.

"An easy life, deep inside the walls? Until ten years ago, this was considered deep inside the walls."

Jean scowled and asked, "What's your point, Eren?"

"My point is that you don't need to go to the interior. It's soft enough in your own head."

By then the din of the Mess Hall had fallen silent, letting everyone listen in on the exchange. There were a few snickers at Eren's almost casual remark, a fact that Jean did not take kindly to.

"Don't you think it's weird that we're training to fight Titans, just for the best to end up farther away from them?" questioned Eren, practically daring Jean to try and refute him.

"Who cares?" growled Jean. "For my own sake, I hope they keep this stupid system."

Eren jumped to his feet then, bristling with fury over Jean's displeasingly honest words. "You piece of shit! You don't deserve to even be here!"

"Excuse me for being realistic!" roared Jean as he rose from his seat and advanced over to the other boy. "Don't tell me you're actually stupid enough to waste such an opportunity."

Armin looked between the two, already dreading the impending confrontation. "Eren, stop!" he protested, but was easily ignored by the pair.

"Or maybe you are," continued Jean, sneering down at Eren tauntingly. "Maybe you're just too _stupid_ to realize that humanity doesn't stand a chance beating the titans."

It was soon quiet again, only this time there was an underlying nervous tension from everyone as they pondered Jean's words.

Eren also stilled, his raging temper momentarily subsiding. He clenched his fists and briefly looked to the ground as he gathered his thoughts. Jean took this to mean that Eren had nothing else to say and began walking back to his seat with a bark of laughter.

"So . . ." Eren began as he looked up at Jean's back. "You're just giving up because you don't think we can win?"

Sighing, Jean peered over his shoulder and remarked, "You don't know when to quit, do you?"

Eren ignored him as he continued passionately, "It's true that humanity has faced nothing but defeat until now. But that's because we didn't know anything about the titans. Fighting them head on is pointless, I get that. And we've lost so much, but the information we gain gives us hope for the next time! Will we abandon the tactics that cost tens of thousands of lives to develop, and let the titans eat us without a fight? Hell no!" He looked to his hands, hands that were rough from training but skilled with practice. Hands that would soon would soon be used to kill titans.

"I'm going to exterminate all of the titans, and escape these cramp walls!" he declared. "That is my dream—I won't stop until it comes true!"

Jean turned back around slowly, snorting laughter before doubling over with hearty guffaws that seemed louder in the dead silence.

"And you think I'm the one with the soft head?" questioned Jean with a wiry smirk. "Wake up and smell the roses, Jaeger. If you want to go outside these walls, then that's your prerogative. Just don't expect anyone else to follow you on your suicidal quest."

"Go ahead and shove off to the interior with the worthless Military Police, _Kirstein_," growled Eren. "A person like you would only be bad for morale on the frontline."

The boys glared at each other for only a moment before the actual fight finally broke out. Having sufficiently bruised the other's ego, the pair threw wild punches and crude insults in an effort to win the struggle.

It was Reiner who jumped in to pull the two apart. By then all that either of them had really sustained in terms of injury was a bloody nose or a split lip.

"That's enough, you two!" shouted Reiner sternly, shoving Eren aside and holding the back of Jean's collar to keep him from charging at Eren. "Neither of you are sniveling kids, so quit acting like you are."

Eren glared angrily at Jean for a few seconds longer before swiping quickly at his nose and rushing off, Armin dutifully running after him.

Jean watched the pair leave the Mess Hall, more than glad for it.

He couldn't wait to leave this place.

* * *

><p>Armin found Eren sitting on a pair of steps not too far away, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. He approached him slowly, sinking down to sit next to him with a deep exhale. He patiently waited for his best friend to recompose himself before finally asking, "When you were talking about your dream . . . did you get that from me?"<p>

Eren nodded, smiling softly as he glanced over to Armin. "Yeah. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," he assured. "But . . . you should know that Jean was wrong."

Eren gave a humored snort. "I could've told you that, Armin."

"No, I mean he was wrong about nobody following you, because I've decided to join the Survey Corps as well."

"Are you serious?" questioned Eren in slight disbelief, stunned by the glimmer of resolution in his childhood friend's kind eyes. "You've got the best written test scores! You should make use of that!"

"Don't worry, I won't hold you back." Armin insisted meekly.

"Nobody asked you do that, Armin." Eren sighed and leaned his head on his knuckles, moving his troubled gaze away.

"I know," murmured Armin softly. "It's just . . . you're all that I have left. And if I could spend the rest of my days with you, well . . . that wouldn't be too bad."

Eren glanced at his friend, reminded again that all they had was each other. The thought was a grim reminder of all they had lost, leaving him to feel restless with faint anger once more.

"Do you . . ." Armin hesitated. "Do you ever think about her?"

He didn't have to ask his best friend what he meant. The pair had discussed it often enough in the past for him to easily gather who he was referring to.

"Sometimes," mumbled Eren. "But I usually try to forget. It's too painful otherwise."

"Do you think that she might be alive somewhere out there?"

"No." Eren replied with near certainty. "She would've found us by now if she was. She's gone, just like the rest of them."

"But—"

"But nothing!" he snapped. "There's no point thinking about it. The best thing we can do is to move on and continue forward."

Armin sighed and let the matter drop. It was pointless trying to argue with Eren, too stubborn to hope for something as impossible as their friend's survival after all these years. He suspected that part of Eren blamed himself for her absence, as stupid as it was, and that he would never forgive himself for not doing anything more to save her.

Perhaps the most troubling thing of all though was not knowing what had happened to their lost friend.

It was unlikely that they would ever be given closure for the fate of Mikasa Ackerman.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm changing the timeline a bit so that fall of Wall Maria happen in 840 instead of 845. This is just to make the main trio slightly older, putting them at 19. Eren and Armin began training when they were 16—which is when they're eligible to join in terms of ****this**** story. **

**I'll try updating every week with chapters around this length. Please review letting me know what you think! They'd be greatly appreciated.**


	3. This Is The Moment For War

Ch. 2

**Year 850**

**Trost District**

The next day, the two friends joined the amassing crowd to watch the sendoff of the Survey Corps. Eren noticed with renewed joy that the group of seasoned soldiers was being received rather favorably, as opposed to back in his youth when such scouting expeditions were met with blatant scorn. A lot had changed in just ten years. Change that had been for the better, and now they were that the much closer to striking back against the titans.

He admired those courageous men and women who had the strength and valor to do what most people wouldn't. And very soon he and Armin would be among them, ready to stretch out their wings for the sake of freedom.

"Things look completely different now," remarked Armin as he watched the scouting legion sit upon their steeds with an air of determination about them as they stared resolutely forward.

Eren nodded and said, "That's because we've learned a lot in ten years, thanks to them. They're the real heroes when it comes down to it. Without them, humanity wouldn't stand a chance."

"Hey, you two!" a voice called out.

The two boys looked to the right to see the familiar visage of an old acquaintance. Both immediately saluted the older man, as was protocol for being addressed by a soldier with more years of experience or superior rank.

Hannes gave a curt nod of acknowledgement, letting the younger men relax back to their normal postures. A wry smirk tugged up a corner of his mouth as he said, "I heard you guys graduated yesterday. It's too bad I didn't get a chance to see it for myself. Maybe then I'd actually believe that you managed to make it through."

"Says the drunk who got made Captain of the Garrison," said Eren dryly, smirking humorously at the older man.

Hannes cuffed Eren playfully on the head. "Oi, watch it now."

The two laughed to each other good naturedly until Hannes suddenly grew serious, face straining with grim regret.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for not being able to save your mother or Mikasa."

Eren was taken aback momentarily by the man's genuine regret and shame after all these years. He recovered quickly though and said, "It's not your fault, Hannes."

The sincere way in which he said this caught Hannes by surprise, having never expected the temperamental youth to be so forgiving over something that had once given him a bloody nose and a few bruises.

"I'm no longer ignorant," continued Eren. "I know now what needs to be done and I won't ever let that sort of tragedy happen again. I will defeat the titans."

What had happened to that angry child he once knew and why did there now stand a more determined young man in his place? He should have felt proud for such a development, but all he could feel was increasing amounts of dread. Although there was no denying that Eren was determined, he was also disillusioned, and that kind of combination was deadly.

"Yo, Eren!" Connie Springer called suddenly, garnering his attention. "We've been assigned clean-up duty on the wall for the day. Hurry it up; we've got work to do."

Eren nodded his ascent and turned back to Hannes. "It was nice seeing you again, Hannes. One of these days we should catch up."

Bidding farewell to Armin, he rushed off to join Connie before the other boy could get too far ahead. Armin and Hannes watched him disappear with troubled gazes.

"You'll make sure he doesn't do something stupid, won't you Armin?" asked Hannes.

"I'll try," replied Armin. "But it won't be easy."

Hannes departed soon after, leaving Armin alone to watch the Survey Corps preparing to depart from the safety of the walls. As his eyes scanned through the group of soldiers on horseback, he was startled to see a hooded figure looking his way, the smallest of smiles just barely seen amidst the shadows shrouding their features.

The person was gone with a flick of the reins, moving with the rest of the squadron to disappear in the blur of color.

Armin was left struggling to make sense of what he had glimpsed and why his heartbeat had sped up at the sight of the timid smile.

X

"Seriously?!" said Eren as he swept out gunpowder residue from within the cannon he was cleaning. "You're joining the Survey Corps? I thought you had your heart set on the Military Police."

Connie didn't let the other boy's astonishment get to him. Instead he chose to focus on the task of polishing the iron and wood. "Yeah, I know, but . . ."

"Looks like he was inspired by your speech last night, Eren," stated Mina Carolina as she casually intruded on the two boy's conversation.

"Shut up!" shouted Connie, glaring at them both. "It was my decision!"

"Don't be so shy," called Thomas Wagner as he joined them. "You're not the only one."

Eren took in Thomas's embarrassed flush, unable to hide how shocked he was for having come off as so inspiring. It hadn't really been his intention, but nonetheless he couldn't have been more pleased. To think he'd be able to inspire the hopeless into doing something as honorable and noble as joining the Survey Corps.

"Um, hey guys . . ."

The small group of young adults turned their attention to the apprehensive voice belonging to Sasha Braus.

"I borrowed some meat from the officers' morning rations," she said as she pulled back her coat to show off her bounty.

A surge of discomfort and shock passed through them all as they stared disbelievingly at Sasha, unable to fathom why she would risk so much for the sake of food. Were there no lengths Sasha would go when it came to food?

"Do you _want_ to get solitary confinement, Sasha?" questioned a baffled Eren.

"You're a real idiot," muttered Thomas.

"Come on now guys," moaned Sasha with eyes clouded with hunger. "We could all share it together later. What d'ya say?" Already she was beginning to salivate at the mere prospect of having such a rare treat to eat.

There was a bit of protest as Sasha stashed the meat away, but eventually they all came around to the idea of sharing it amongst themselves—mostly because no one wanted to be the lone stickler who didn't want to risk getting involved.

They quickly began returning to their duties before anyone noticed otherwise.

Meanwhile Eren watched his former classmates with openmouthed surprise, looking to them all with a bit of astonishment before he was able to properly compose himself. He then surveyed the small town that made up the Trost District, a surge of determination soon coursing through him.

_Ten years have passed since then,_ he thought. _Mankind's finally regaining its dignity and soon we'll be down the path to victory. Mankind's counterattack begins now!_

Just as the thoughts came to pass, a thunderous boom preceded by a flash of lightning erupted and soon a shadow loomed over him. He turned slowly, movements stilted with his debilitating sense of dread.

For a fleeting moment, Eren doubted what he was seeing. But he quickly gathered his wits about him, pushing past his surprise in order to think rationally. There was only seconds before a rush of air hit them all, sending the squad flying over the edge.

Instinct kicked in and they all activated their gear, securing themselves to the wall just in time.

"Samuel!" cried Connie.

Eren looked to see his comrade still falling, having been knocked unconscious by the unanticipated blow. It was Sasha who rushed to his aid, breaking free from the wall to sprint down closer to where he was. She stopped his descent by firing one of her cables at him, the barbed tip securing itself painfully into his ankle, using the other to keep them both attached to the wall.

"Don't move, Samuel!" she hollered down to him, not knowing if he was alert enough to comprehend his words.

"That was close . . ." mumbled Eren as he breathed a sigh of momentary relief.

The shocked gasps of his comrades pulled his eyes away from Sasha and Samuel, glancing down to see what startled them so. His own heart constricted painfully inside his chest at what greeted him down below.

"It's happening again . . ." Thomas lamented, face having gone as pale as a sheet at the sight of the gaping hole that had once been the gate.

All Eren could do was stare horrified at the gigantic hole in the wall, reminding him of that fateful day ten years ago when his life had been turned upside down.

* * *

><p><strong>Year 840<strong>

**Shiganshina District**

Eren awoke abruptly from a strange dream he could not easily recollect with a startled gasp.

It took him several moments of open staring before he finally register the concern features of Mikasa hovering worriedly over him, but even then his vague confusion remained.

"Mikasa?" he muttered drowsily, a hint of uncertainty barely permissible in his tone. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you think you're still dreaming or something?" asked Mikasa, ignoring his question in favor of asking her own.

It made him feel silly and just a bit dimwitted if she felt the need to ask him that. "No . . ." he sighed as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. "It was just . . . a really long dream I think. But what was it about? I can't seem to remember."

A feeling of profound sadness that he could not explain suddenly grew heavy in his chest. And as he continued to wipe his face, his fingers brushed away the beginnings of tears.

Mikasa had just picked up her share of the firewood when she noticed the few tears that had trailed down his cheeks. She looked to him with slight confusion as she asked, "Why are you crying?"

Eren's hand stilled as he soon became aware of the dampness on his face and fingertips. He sat there in open mouthed astonishment, struggling to understand why he had felt so sad all of the sudden. But the pondering was brief when it became clear that he possessed no answer, and Eren hurriedly wiped the evidence away.

He refused to say another word as he grabbed his pack of firewood and hurried away to hide the embarrassed flush that had risen to his cheeks, forcing Mikasa to quicken her step in order to keep up.

"You better not tell anyone I was crying," warned Eren when they made it back into town.

"I won't." Though she didn't fully understand why, Mikasa knew he had felt embarrassed for crying and vowed to remain true to her word as a friend. Still, the fact that he didn't know why he had been crying was troubling. "But maybe you should talk to your dad about it."

"Are you kidding?" protested Eren, "I'm not going tell my dad that!"

It seemed their conversation had been heard, for the boisterous voice of one of the Garrison guards asked, "What were you crying about, Eren?"

"Hannes!" exclaimed Eren, startled by the man's inquiry.

"Is it because you made Mikasa mad at you?" Hannes pressed, leveling Eren with a pointed look and sloppy grin.

"I wasn't crying!" he insisted petulantly. He reeled back quickly and covered his nose in disgust as the strong stench of booze wafted over him. "You reek of alcohol!"

"There's nothing wrong with that!" said one of the soldiers sitting at the table that Hannes had once been at.

Disappointment struck Eren as he took in the red faces of the intoxicated men. "You're drinking . . .? But aren't you supposed to be on duty?"

"Yeah, we're watching the gates today," answered Hannes. "We've been here all day. You can't blame us if we started to get hungry and thirsty. But it's not like it's a big deal if we happen to drink something with a bit of alcohol in it."

"But if you're drunk, then how are going to fight?" demanded Eren, seeing no logic in the man's explanation.

Hannes looked to the boy with startled confusion. "When would we actually have to fight?"

"Do you really have to ask? When they break the wall and come in!"

The table of soldiers all shared a hearty laugh before one of them decided to amuse the boy with inflated assurances. "Don't worry, if they do happen to break the wall, we'll do our jobs. But you have nothing to fear; the wall hasn't been breached in a hundred years."

"My dad said that it's times like these when we're in danger the most!" argued Eren.

"Dr. Jaeger said that?" pondered Hannes, "Well, he's right. We can't thank him enough for saving us from the plague, but the titans are a different story. I see titans walking around all the time when I mend the walls. But, speaking pragmatically as a soldier, I don't think they can do anything about this 50-meter wall."

"So . . . what you're saying is you have no desire to fight them?"

Hannes gave an indifferent shrug. "Not particularly."

Eren hadn't thought it possible for his ire to elevate any further, but their total disregard over the matter had left him to feel new levels of infuriation. "Then you should stop calling yourselves the Stationary Guard and instead call yourselves the Wall Menders!"

"Hey, that has a nice ring to it!" chuckled Hannes. "But understand this, Eren: When people see soldiers fighting, they know something bad has happened. Everyone is much happier when we're doing nothing."

Eren's hands shook even when he clenched them into tight fists. He struggled to keep his voice in a strained civility even if he was inwardly seething inside. "I know. Even though we might not get out, we can still live here as long as the wall is standing. But . . . that would make us like . . . like livestock."

He began walking away soon after that, through with this pointless discussion that was only going in circles. Mikasa followed him wordlessly, glancing over her shoulder only long enough to see Hannes watching them with wide eyes filled with blatant astonishment.

When they had gotten sufficiently away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds and it was just the two of them, Mikasa finally voiced what had been troubling her for weeks. "I don't think you should join the Survey Corps."

"Don't tell me you think their stupid too!"

Mikasa glanced away, avoiding his heated stare. "It's nothing like that," she said carefully. "It's just—"

The sound of a bell interrupted her words, the pair stopping briefly to listen to its loud tolls. The look of indignation that had once been on Eren's face rapidly melted away, and was replaced by one of joyous admiration.

"The Survey Corps are back!" enthused Eren as he thoughtlessly took Mikasa's hand and began leading her to the gate. "Come on, let's go see the heroes!"

Racing through the streets, Eren eagerly brought her over to where the amassing group of people was collecting to watch the returning soldiers pass through.

"Damn, I can't see!" grumbled Eren, hopping on his feet to peer over the shoulders over the adults. He soon spotted a couple of small crates that would surely give them enough boost to see over everyone, and excitedly dragged Mikasa to where they laid.

Eren watched the few soldiers at the head of the group with open admiration. They may have been a little worse for wear, and more than a little bloody, but they were still mostly intact, still strong and surely just as capable. Because of that, it was easy to overlook their rather dour expressions.

One man in particular looked his way. His face appeared briefly stunned as he took in Eren's beaming face before he turned his head away with a pained grimace.

Eren did know what to make of that until he directed his attention to those following behind the blond man sitting hunched forward on horseback.

A wave of shock crashed through him as he took in the sight of countless wounded soldiers hobbling along or resting in the back of carts. It was while he was looking at them all that he realized that so many had not returned.

"Moses! Moses!" an older woman cried out as she broke through the murmuring crowd to approach the leader. "My son, Moses. . . I can't find him. Where is he?"

The entire procession came to a halt. The commander regarded the distraught woman before glancing to his subordinate and ordering, "Bring it here."

She was presented with a bundled object. When she pulled back the dirtied cloth, her worse fears had been realized as she gaped down at the dismembered arm she now held in her hands.

"That was the only part of him we could salvage," he mumbled to the woman after she had fallen to her knees in broken sobs, clutching desperately at the only remnant of her son.

He kneeled down in front of her, resting a hand on one of her trembling shoulders as a means of conveying his sympathies and giving her comfort.

"My son . . ." she began in between sobs. "He was useful . . .right? He might . . . not have been a hero, but at least he died helping mankind fight back, right?!"

"Of course!" he insisted eagerly until he was struck by a startling realization that caused him to retract his statement. "No. During this mission—during _all_ the missions . . . we still haven't made any progress! I'm a failure! All I do is lead my soldiers to their death and for what? We haven't learned a single damn thing that'll be useful against the titans!"

The man's soldiers grabbed him by the elbows and hoisted him back to his feet, slinging his arms over their shoulders as they continued making their way through the town.

The air was made heavier by the time they were far enough away from the disturbed crowd.

"So this is what are taxes are being used for? Offering those things lunch?" a man muttered scornfully, words that Eren had been unfortunate to catch.

Angrily he struck the man in the head with one of the branches of wood he had with him. He was preparing to deliver another strike when Mikasa grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him into an alley before he could do further damage.

"Alright!" shouted Eren as he was pulled along. "I get it! You can let go of me, Mikasa."

When she did release him, it wasn't exactly what he had had in mind.

The young girl tossed her friend almost effortlessly, throwing him at a nearby wall to both illustrate her point and vent off some of her frustration.

Eren fell to the ground in an unceremonious heap, the rough impact having scattered all of the firewood he had collected. "What was that for?" he grumbled as he sat up and looked to the mess he would now have to pick up.

She ignored his question to return back to the conversation they had been about to have had they not been interrupted by the return of the reconnaissance soldiers.

"Do you _still_ want to join the Survey Corps?"

There was no hesitation, no wavering when she had asked, having since moved passed her own indecisiveness. If what they had just seen couldn't change his mind, then nothing ever would.

Eren remained quiet as he went about picking up the strewn pieces of firewood, more than aware of Mikasa's expectant stare burning a hole in his back. When he still didn't answer, she chose not to press him, for his silence was answer enough.

The rest of the walk home was riddled with tense silence.

X

"We're back," greeted Eren as they entered his home, the two children depositing the wood into its designated box.

With that done, they took their places at the table and waited patiently for his mother to serve them lunch.

"You heading out, Dad?" asked Eren, noticing the bag he had open at the table, the one he'd take with him on trips for work.

"I have to go see someone in the inner walls," he explained as he put away a book he had been holding. "I should be back in two or three days."

A quiet settled over them briefly when the conversation began to lag, this momentary peace soon broken by Mikasa's careful decision.

"Eren wants to join the Survey Corps."

His mother turned to look at her with disbelief while his father paused. The room became still as they digested her words, all struggling to come up with responses.

Eren, perhaps, was the most stunned, having never once expected Mikasa—who was loyal to him to a fault for reasons that eluded him—to go against him in such a way.

"You traitor!" he hissed to her lowly with a narrow eyed glare.

His mother was beside him in seconds, tone marked with heavy disapproval. "Eren, what are you thinking?!" she demanded, gripping his shoulders and leaning in close so that he was forced to look at her. "Do you know how many people die outside these walls?"

"I do!" he asserted, not about to be treated as though he was a naïve child.

"Well, clearly you don't!" shouted Carla.

Before a full-scale argument could break out, Grisha chose to intervene. Unlike his wife, he decided to handle this carefully in order to not further escalate the situation. It helped that he didn't possess the willful temper that his wife and son shared.

"Why do you want to go outside, Eren?" he asked patiently, hardly patronizing the boy.

"I want to go see the outside world," answered Eren. "I don't want to die inside these walls without knowing what's out there! And . . . if no one takes up their jobs, then all those people who've lost their lives would've died in vain!"

Grisha stared at his son for a few seconds, silently deliberating something before he got to his feet. "I see," he remarked as he collected his things. "I'm afraid I must be going. My ship's here."

"Wait, dear!" protested Carla as she fretted after her husband, who was now making his way to the door. "Help me convince Eren that he can't do this!"

"Carla, nothing we say or do will change his mind," he reasoned delicately. He turned his gaze over to his son, who was staring angrily at Mikasa.

"Eren," Grisha called, gaining his attention. "When I get back, I'll show you the basement that I've kept secret all this time." As if to emphasize his point, he pulled on the thin twine around his neck to reveal the brass key that dangled there.

"R-Really?!" stammered Eren with brightening amazement.

Grisha nodded and tucked the key away before waving farewell. The small family saw him off, standing out on the front steps and waving at his back.

When he was out of earshot, Carla insisted sternly, "I won't allow it. Joining the Survey Corps is a foolish idea."

The boy reeled on his mother, his outrage burning anew. "It is not a foolish idea! The people who want to stay inside these walls living like livestock are the foolish ones!"

He rushed off before she could get another word in, fed up with her attempts of dissuading him from his goal. Ignoring her calls, he strove to get as far away from home as possible. Not knowing where to go exactly, it helped when the sounds of shouting and a scuffle reached his ears.

Turning a corner, he spotted his best friend getting pummeled and immediately charged forward to his aid. The three bigger boys glanced to him and began to sneer viciously. They were more than eager to take on the temperamental boy and show him his place, but he was soon joined by Mikasa—a force hardly to be trifled with.

The gang of boys fled before the pair reached them, not wishing to deal with the ruthless might of Mikasa.

"Wow, one look at me and they run off!" boasted Eren, oblivious to the look of thanks that Armin sent Mikasa.

Armin attempted to get to his feet, but fell to his knees at the pain that flared up when he tried moving. Eren was at his side in seconds, lending a hand in assistance. "Are you alright, Armin?" he asked.

The smaller boy looked to the hand that was being offered to him and looked down with a grim frown. "I'm fine . . ." he grumbled as he swatted the hand away, slowly rising to his feet. He swayed a bit but otherwise remained staining, leaning against the brick wall of the alleyway for support.

Eren and Mikasa gave their friend time to catch his breath before leisurely walking with him through the streets.

"What was that all about, Armin?" asked Eren curiously.

"I said that humanity needs to venture out of these walls to learn about the world. And then they beat me up and accused me of being a heretic."

"Damn . . ." grumbled Eren, moodily kicking a stray stone. "Why does everyone belittle those who want to go see what's outside these walls?"

"Well . . . it's probably because of the peace that's lasted for a hundred years from staying inside," reasoned Armin. "They're worried that going outside carelessly will only invite the titans inside the walls. The royal government's policies have made it to where any interest in the outside world is taboo."

"It's our lives! It should be our choice whether we risk them or not."

"Absolutely not!" Mikasa said sternly, sending Eren a withering look. He glared at her just as defiantly, but that hardly dissuaded her resolve. "You should forget about it."

"Not this again!" groaned Eren. "You know, I can't believe you actually told my parents."

"I never agreed to go along with your stupid idea to begin with," she muttered loftily, soon returning to her closed off manner that made it difficult to discern what she was thinking.

"You actually told them?" questioned Armin in slight disbelief. "What did they say?"

"They're . . . less than pleased."

Armin sighed. "Figures . . ."

The trio fell silent then, ruminating on their own thoughts and trying to gather what to say next. It was Armin who finally broke the silence, taking his time in carefully articulating his opinion. "I think people are disillusioned if they think we'll be safe inside these walls forever. Just because the walls haven't fallen in a hundred years, doesn't mean they never will. For all we know it could fall today."

A tense stillness fell after his words, leaving them all decidedly uncomfortable. Something didn't feel right, a fact that was made apparent by a spark of unnatural lightning and a thunderous boom erupting just outside the wall.

The trio came to a halt, knocked unbalance by the shockwave that ran through the town. The three friends huddled together as they waited for the shaking to pass, jumping back to their feet when all had seemingly returned to normal.

"W-What was that?!" asked Armin. "An explosion?!"

They noticed the way the other townspeople were reacting to something just beyond the cluster of buildings they were at. Armin was the first to investigate what was going on, Eren and Mikasa following after him.

When they made it out of the alleyway, the first thing that they noticed was the way their friend stood frozen as he looked skyward. Then it became apparent that he wasn't the only one standing there in a state of shock, for everyone else in the square had gone equally as still.

Eren followed Armin's gaze and gasped.

There, peeking over the edge of the wall and clouded by the haze of smoke, appeared to be a hand.

"That's i-impossible . . ." murmured Armin. "That wall is fifty-meters tall!"

"It's one of them . . ." gasped Eren, his eyes steadily widening. Slowly, a gigantic head peered down at them all, face grotesque with its lack of skin and grim display of teeth. In spite of its unusual appearance and tremendous size, there was no denying what it was. "A titan!"

Everything was still for a moment until a flurry of mayhem ensued. The ground shook with another shockwave, only this one was accompanied by flying masonry and thick clouds of smoke. Pieces of the stonework rained down merciless upon the town and its denizens, crushing buildings and people alike.

When the dust and smoke began to clear, Armin gaped at what he could now see. "I-It opened . . . a hole in the wall . . ."

It was pure pandemonium from there. People began to flee as titans began entering the hole that had been made by the larger creature, crying out in fear and despair while they tried to escape the impending threat.

"We need to run too!" urged Armin, but soon noticed his friend drifting off in the opposite direction. "Eren!" he called.

"My house is that way . . ." Eren mumbled distractedly, ignoring the flailing crowds that brushed past him. "I've got to get my mom . . ."

Mikasa was at his side in seconds, taking his hand and guiding him through the shifting bodies of people. Armin called out to them, but made no move to follow. Instead he fled, too afraid to chase after his friends despite how much he wanted to.

Eren and Mikasa ran through the ransacked streets desperately, noticing the devastation of fallen houses and crushed bodies from fallen debris. He tried to not let it affect him. There was no way his home could've been hit. He'd find his house standing there as soon as he turned the corner and his worry would be proven to be pointless. Yes, everything would be just fine as soon as he turned the corner.

To his abject horror, he was wrong.

His house had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of wood and stone. The sight startled the two friends, their faces blanching at the indiscernible heap that had once been their home.

"Mom!" shouted Eren as he ran with renewed speed. "MOM!"

They found her pinned under the wreckage, most of her body buried in the rubble and trapped by a wooden beam.

"Eren . . ." she moaned, blinking slowly at the two children.

"Mikasa! Grab that end!" ordered Eren as he took one side of the beam. "We've got to move it!"

The two children struggled in vain to move the beam that trapped Carla, their bodies too small and grossly lacking the strength to so much as nudge it.

Thunderous footsteps off to the left stilled their hands, and the two children peered over to see the terrifying visage of a titan with a malicious grin permanently stretched across its face nearing.

Eren shook away his stupefaction and continued straining to lift the fallen beam from off his mother. "Hurry, Mikasa!"

"I know!"

Carla looked to her son and adopted daughter with despair, knowing already that their efforts were futile. "The titans have gotten inside, haven't they?" she asked them needlessly, trying to gather her chaotic thoughts together. Her amber eyes were soon beseeching as she pleaded, "Eren! Take Mikasa and run. Just run! Hurry!"

Her stubborn son would hear nothing of it. He continued struggling to remove the debris. "Don't you think I want to?" he shouted almost desperately. "I have to get you out first before I can do that!" His hands were aching with strain, wayward splinters digging painfully into the skin and ripping at his fingernails, leaving his palms slick with blood.

"My legs were crushed by the debris . . ." she said carefully, trying not to succumb to an irrational need to panic. "Even if you could get me out, I wouldn't be able to run. You understand what that means, right?"

Eren stared down at her in open-mouthed horror, eyes filling with tears. "Then I'll carry you!" he insisted in vehement outrage.

"Why don't you ever listen to your mother?!" screamed Carla, struggling to get her son to see reason. "You can at least do this one last thing! Mikasa, please, make him understand!"

Mikasa herself was fighting back tears, shaking her head in denial. "No . . ." she mumbled continuous, mustering all of the strength left in her towards her futile efforts.

Carla looked to both children with tears in her eyes. "If you don't go, then all three of us will . . ."

To her immense relief, Hannes was soon with them, appearing like a godsend.

"Hannes!" she called. "Take the children and get them out of here!"

The soldier gave a brazen smile to the woman. "Don't go underestimating me, Carla. I'm going to slaughter these titans and save all three of you."

He was gone before she could stop him, darting off to face them head on. But in moments he was back again, grimacing guiltily as he scooped Eren onto one shoulder and pulled Mikasa away.

"Oi! Hannes!" protested Eren. "What are you doing?! Put me down!"

No amount of protesting could get the man to stop, and Eren was left to ineffectively stretch out his entire body over Hannes's shoulder in a vain attempt of reaching his mother.

"MOM!" he cried.

"Eren! Mikasa!" hollered Carla as she reached out to him. "You have to survive!"

There was nothing he could do but watch as the grinning titan stopped at the destroyed remains of his house. The creature stooped down over the rubble and pulled his mother free with relative ease, ignoring the ineffectual blows made to the hand clutching Carla.

"STOP!" screamed Eren, voice ringing out with all the devastation in the world as he watched his mother get devoured by the titan. The crunching snap of her body being bitten in two that resonated through the air sent chills down his spine, leaving him to feel thoroughly unnerved even when her blood began to rain down on them all.

Mikasa glanced over at Eren and was sickened by the level of grief in his traumatized expression. She knew that look well, knew firsthand what it was like to lose a parent. She could emphasize with his grief. After all, she was just a devastated by the loss of her surrogate mother, the kind woman having nursed her back to health when she had been first brought to the Jaeger household.

Why did she always have to lose her family?

She tugged up her scarf to hide her face, ashamed of the tears that brimmed in her eyes and the feeling of helplessness that overtook her.

A flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Looking over, her mouth went dry at the sight of a titan just a few feet away, crouched on its haunches and eyeing them with interest. She made to alert Hannes when the beast swiped at them, the beefy hand missing them by millimeters. But the resulting air current sent them all crashing to the ground, tumbling apart.

Snapped out of his daze, Eren looked up to see the relatively small titan looming over them, hand poised to pluck one of them up.

"Run!" he hollered as he scrambled to his feet, Hannes's hand grabbing his collar and pulling him along.

Eren checked to see if Mikasa was alright and was soon distraught to find her missing. Looking back, he found her darting just out of reach of the titan hand and scrambling to catch up.

"Mikasa!" screamed Eren as he fought Hannes's iron grip. "You forgot Mikasa, you drunk idiot!"

"She's fine, she'll catch up," Hannes assured weakly, bearing no intention of turning back to get her.

"Eren!" cried Mikasa, tripping over her own feet in her haste to reach him.

"Hurry, Mikasa! It's right behind you!" urged Eren as he withered and twisted to break free.

Hindered by his frantic squirming, Hannes slung the boy back over his shoulder. The soldier rounded a corner quickly and it was with bated breath that Eren waited for his friend to follow soon after. He kept waiting to see her face even when those few seconds that it should've taken her to round the corner turned into a full minute.

When he could no longer delude himself into thinking she would come running any second, a righteous fury overtook him and he began beating a clenched fist down on Hannes's skull, occasionally kneeing the man in the face.

"You're a fucking coward!" he cried. "We could've saved mom and Mikasa, but instead you ran like the coward you are! What right do you have to live when they died?"

"Cut it out!" snapped Hannes as he stilled Eren's hand and flung the boy away.

Eren hit the ground hard, groaning at the pain in his chest. Hannes approached him slowly, crouching down beside him. "You couldn't have helped them because you are weak."

This infuriated Eren greatly. He swung at the man with all his weight behind the blow, intending to hurt him just as he had been hurt, but the man easily caught the ineffective blow.

As Eren struggled to pull his arm free, Hannes admitted, "I . . . I couldn't face the titan. Because I was afraid!"

Tears of shame were freely streaming down the man's face, causing Eren to pause over the unexpected reaction. It wasn't long before Eren himself started to cry.

"I'm sorry . . ." he muttered as he got to his feet and began leading Eren away by the hand.

Eren gritted his teeth and reluctantly followed Hannes to the evacuation boats, crying the whole way there.

X

Already on the ship preparing to depart, Armin spotted his friend about to be let aboard and was immediately struck by the pale, wide-eyed devastation that was on his face. He quickly greeted his friend as soon as he was allowed onto the ship, pulling him aside to an open spot to sit down not too far from his grandfather.

Armin was courteous enough to give his best friend some space, choosing to wait for the boat to depart before asking his questions.

It was as the boat was pulling out when another terrifying eruption broke the sound barrier. The homeless refugees were forced to watch helplessly as yet another hole was made through the wall, this time by a titan covered in thick plates of tough skin that almost resembled armor. The creature stood ominously in the gathering smoke, leering at them all before disappearing in the thickening haze.

Wall Maria had fallen, and the titans had captured a third of human territory without much effort.

Armin felt ill at the thought of it all, but pushed aside his own trepidations in favor of checking on his friend, who was still fairly shell-shocked.

"Eren, what happened? Where's your mother? Where's Mikasa?"

Eren's face crumpled at the barrage of questions, tears jumping into his eyes and distorting his vision. "I won't ever get to go home again," he mumbled, voice thick with sorrow. "Why? Why did I have to argue with her, even up until the end? Mom is gone. She's gone! And Mikasa . . . Why?!"

He knew why. Hannes had said it quite clearly just moments ago.

Humans were weak, and he was no different. He was too weak, to the point where all he could do was cry.

No more. Never again will he ever feel this weak and helpless.

"I'm going to erase their existence from this world," growled Eren, surprising Armin with his level of vehemence, a spark of fire blazing brightly in his angered gaze. His friend placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, one that he brushed off as he got to his feet and moved to the railing.

His bruised and battered hands clenched tightly over the wood railing as he roared, "I'm going to kill them all! Every single one of them!"

His impassioned vow was accompanied by a haunting howl that came from within Shiganshina, the loud cry bearing both anger and sorrow that seemed to heighten the tension exuding from Eren, translating the boy's own fury and despair into a potent force.

Deep in his soul, there burned a wild fire that could never be extinguished.

* * *

><p><strong>Year 850 <strong>

**Trost District**

_I'll kill them all! Every single one of them!_

He had never forgotten this violent vow he had made ten years ago when he had lost everything. Now was the time to act, before it was too late like last time.

"Fixed Artillery Squad 4, prepare for battle!" shouted Eren as he charged up the wall with renewed vigor, unsheathing a pair of fresh blades from the scabbards at his thighs.

He glanced back over his shoulder only once, not really caring if his barked orders were being heeded by his comrades or not.

"The target is here! Don't let this chance slip away!"

Propelled upward by his gear, Eren made it to the top of the wall almost instantaneously. He landed with a brief pivot to establish his footing, the rest of his momentum burning off into the stonework as he faced his opponent.

Eren glared hatefully at the Colossal Titan, reminded again of the death of his mother, the disappearance of his father, and the absence of Mikasa.

His world had turned into a worse kind of hell because of this bastard.

Vengeance would be his.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Extra-long chapter to make up for missing the update (It was because I hadn't intended for this chapter to get as long as it did and I had no desire to split it). Chapters will not typically be of this length, just as a heads up.**

**More original stuff is on its way, I promise. Things like their childhood, the early days of Trost, and their training days to name a few. **

**I incorporated two lines from a english cover of the Guren no Yumiya by AmaLee and David (one of those lines was used for the title of this chapter). If you want to check it out, just go to youtube and type in 'guren no yumiya english' and it should be the first one that pops up.**


	4. Prepare For Battle

Ch. 3

The first thing the Colossal Titan did was swipe at the top of the wall.

Initially Eren thought the creature was trying to aim for him, their eyes having met as soon as he had landed. But the swing did not come to a halt as soon as he flew out of the way. Instead, it continued along its path atop the wall, leaving him to question whether the titan had had any intention of hitting him in the first place.

In fact, it seemed like it had gone for the cannons. And if that were true, if it had made a conscious tactical decision, did that mean that it possessed intelligence? Was that even possible amongst titans?

Eren's ponderings were cut short when the Colossal Titan turned its head and made to grab him. Luckily his reaction time was impeccable, and he shot out of reach in milliseconds. Propelling up onto the creature's arm, he hit the muscled surface running, driven by a blood pounding need for vengeance.

The titan tried to shake him off, but that couldn't alter the boy's course to the behemoth's neck. Thankful for the maneuverability that his gear gave him, Eren moved in for the kill. His blades were about to hit their mark when a sudden burst of steam assaulted him and sent him flying back.

His eyes watered at the intense heat that smothered him, the dense cloud becoming a new obstacle he had to overcome. He needed to kill the bastard. There was no alternative.

Pulling back on the trigger at the hilt of his right sword, he shot forward along the retracting cable with the aid of the gas propulsion. There was no way he could miss his mark now, not when he was so close.

He swung his swords for a second time, cutting through only steam.

The cloud of steam dissipated after a strong breeze hit it, revealing that the Colossal Titan was no longer there. He hung in the air momentarily in open disbelief, having difficulty comprehending the titan's sudden and rather quick disappearance.

Absently he released one of the cables and secured himself back to the wall, all the while trying to make sense of this. There was no way he could've missed, and yet there was no decomposing corpse to prove him otherwise.

The damn bastard must've disappeared. But how was that possible?

"Did you get it, Eren?" Thomas called from up above.

"No! It's just like ten years ago." Eren growled, "It showed up out of nowhere, and then vanished into thin air!"

Eren made it back up to the top of the wall feeling immensely disappointed with himself. "I'm sorry," he apologized to the others. "I let it escape."

"What're you apologizing for?" asked Thomas with a half-hearted smile meant to provide reassurance. "We couldn't even move a muscle."

"Hey!" interrupted Connie. "Save it for later. Right now we've got a problem on our hands. The wall has been breached. If we don't hurry and block the hole, the titans are going to get inside."

A member of the Garrison suddenly approached them, obviously aware of what had just transpired. "Head back to HQ!" the man ordered. "And don't forget to submit a full report if you came into contact with it. For now, leave this to the Garrison."

"Best of luck to you and the rest of the initial response team, sir!" said Connie.

Eren longed to stay and fight on the front lines, but as a recently graduated cadet, he was well aware that he needed to follow orders. And as sad as it was, he knew that the Colossal Titan would not be making a second appearance today, so he would not be missing out on the opportunity to carry out his vengeance if he were to retreat.

Things would be different the next time they crossed paths though. He was certain of it.

X

Back in Trost's military headquarters, Eren scanned the vast room for Armin and found his friend at the air tanks.

"Are you okay, Armin?!" questioned Eren when he approached and noticed the way his best friend's hands were shaking uncontrollably while he was trying to fill up the canisters to his gear.

"I'm fine . . ." he assured lamely, speaking the contrary. "I'll get it together. But we're still in trouble. We've got an eight-meter hole in the wall, and no way of fixing it quickly! We can't even move the giant rock meant for this very occasion. If we can't block the hole, this city is done for! And if the Colossal Titan can easily breach the walls for the other titans, then what's to stop them from annihilating mankind whenever they want?"

"Armin!" shouted Eren as he grabbed his wrist in an attempt to still his hands and snap him out of his rambling fear. "Calm down! I promise you this time it's different. We won't be defeated by the titans!"

There was a small pause while Eren's mighty claim sank in, and almost soon after the frighten tremble eased from his hands.

Armin tucked his chin to his chest, feeling unbelievably ashamed for the level of cowardice that had overtaken him.

"S-Sorry," he stammered. "I'm fine . . ."

Eren wasn't quite convinced, but he made no point of telling him otherwise. Instead, he went about refilling his own canisters and checking that his gear was still properly fastened to his body before they were all called into the courtyard for further instruction.

Together the pair exited the storage room and joined their fellow comrades, both newly graduated cadets and seasoned soldiers, to where a russet haired man stood waiting to give them their orders.

"You'll be split into teams to work alongside the Garrison, forming supply and information routes as you eliminate any titans that cross your paths. The vanguard shall be comprised of the Garrison's Intercept Squad. The cadets will act as the middle guard under our command. That leaves the Garrison's elite soldiers in the rear guard," explained Kitts Verman, a captain of the Garrison branch. His face was strained, his expression set in grim severity that showed that he was just as uncomfortable with all of this as most of the fledgling soldiers. "According to information we've recently received, the initial response team has been completely wiped out. This unfortunate setback has allowed titans to break through our defenses and enter the town. As things stand, the Armored Titan can still show up to break through the inner wall."

Low murmurings broke out at Verman's words, allowing for unease to spread through the ranks. Eren swallowed back his own apprehension and glanced to Armin, noticing how pale his friend had become. He wanted to say something to assuage his fears, but couldn't think of anything suitable. After all, he had already said what he had needed to in the storage room.

"Attention!" hollered Verman before the whispers could grow any louder. "At this very moment the vanguard is intercepting the titans. Therefore this defense mission has only one goal: protect Wall Rose until all civilians have been evacuated. I'm sure I don't have to remind any of you that fleeing from the enemy is considered treason and is punishable by death. Keep that mind as you offer your lives in service to humanity."

They all saluted the officer in unison, a chorus of affirmatives ringing loudly in the air before they all disbanded from the carefully filed ranks to learn of their assignments. Soldiers rushed throughout the courtyard trying to gather their teams or set off to their designated locations. There were a few however who sat huddled in the shadows of the surrounding pillars, mostly cadets who were trying to cope with the enormity of the situation.

Eren and Armin were on their way to find out where they would be posted when the brunet stumbled into Jean.

The two boys gaped at each other stupidly until a look of irritation swept over Jean's features. He shoved Eren aside and angrily snapped, "Outta my way!"

Eren grabbed his arm before the other boy could stalk away, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What's your problem, Jean?" he questioned not unkindly.

Jean couldn't believe that Eren had had the audacity to ask such a thing. "What's my problem?!" he growled, his temper flaring. "It may come as a surprise to you, but not everyone has a death wish like you do, you little psycho!" He grabbed a fistful of the other boy's collar and hoisted him up, bringing his face close. "I was supposed to leave for the Interior tomorrow!"

"Relax! We've trained for this!" protested Eren.

"Relax and pray we don't die, you mean!"

"Hell, no!" roared Eren as he shoved Jean's hands away and slammed him back into a nearby column. "Have you forgotten those three, long years we poured our blood, sweat, and tears into? We spent all that time trying not to die to get to this point. But somehow we made it, somehow we're still standing, and I'm sure we can do the same now. So suck it up! You're going to make it through today and go to the Interior tomorrow, got it?"

He released the taller boy with an unnecessary shove and stomped away, ignoring Armin as the boy prattled off frantic admonishments.

Jean watched the pair depart, feeling incredibly frustrated that someone as bullheaded as Eren could actually talk some sense into him. What was the world coming to?

X

The two friends were relieved to learn that they had been assigned to the same squad, especially Armin. They had been placed near the front of the middle guard, where they would act as reinforcements for the dwindling vanguard.

"Don't you think this is a great opportunity?" asked Eren suddenly, the question startling Armin

"I don't see how . . ." he muttered uncertainly, staring perplexedly at the other boy while he tied his hair back.

"Well . . . the way I see it, we'll be getting a lot of experience from this battle." Eren flashed a confident grin at Armin, somehow possessing enough assurance for them both. "So the Survey Corps will definitely want to recruit us. They may even place us with their best soldiers. Regardless, we'll be on the fast track for sure after this, trust me."

His boyish confidence was infectious and soon Armin was grinning back with just as much zealousness.

"Hey now, you guys aren't the only ones who plan on joining the Survey Corps," Mina reminded with a playful grin.

Thomas gave an astute nod of agreement. "You may have been the one to make a big deal out of it first, Eren, but I'm afraid this time around there's going to be some competition to see who would make the best Survey Corps soldier."

"Oh, is that a challenge?" laughed Eren, enjoying the camaraderie. It was only yesterday that many of them had settled on joining the Garrison. Now everyone seemed to jump at the thought of joining the Survey Corps. Not that Eren was complaining. As far as he knew, the Survey Corps were lucky to have any soldier they could get.

"Whoever kills the most titans wins!" declared Thomas, exchanging grins with his squad members.

Eren snickered and said, "You guys may want to fudge your scores then, because there's no way any of you are going to beat me."

Their light bantering was brought to an abrupt end when a Garrison soldier suddenly ordered, "Squad 34! Advance! Give support to the vanguard!"

Eren gave a nod and looked to his squad of eager former cadets. "Alright, let's go!"

A hearty cry of agreement rose in the air as Squad 34 charged forward with great vigor, each seeking to put into practice all the training that they had endured for three long years and prove they had what it took to serve in the military.

Eren led the charge, his blood singing in his ears as he soared effortless across several rooftops. The rush of air through his hair and against his face, even the sting in his eyes, was exhilarating, and everything seemed to slip away when he looked up at the never ending sky. If things were different, he could easily get lost in the thrill of it all. But as it stood, he needed to remain focus. It was either that, or get killed.

It wasn't long before a few too many titans came into view. A seed of unease began to grow within the squad as they steadily approached. Surely the vanguard would've done a better job at keeping things from getting this bad. Unless, of course, they were all dead.

Eren tried not to let this setback dishearten him. It only meant more work for them, and they were surely up for the task.

A flicker of unnatural movement upon the rooftops up ahead caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes and quickly realized that it was a titan. As soon as he had, the creature lifted its head to look in their direction and abruptly launched itself at them.

"Stop!" hollered Eren, quickly changing directions before he could fall into the Abnormal's path.

The squad rendezvoused onto a roof to their left. Eren had just barely reached it to where he could hang from the gutter, and for that he was immensely grateful. They all stared warily at the bell tower the Abnormal now clung to, its body mostly hidden behind the structure.

When it slowly peered around the corner, Eren's grip nearly fell slack.

Squad 34 gaped in what was a mixture of shock, horror, and profound disbelief at Thomas, who was now waist deep in the mouth of the Abnormal. Thomas's own terror filled gaze stared back at them with a look of deep denial. He opened his mouth to speak, but was unable to utter a single word before he was swallowed whole by the Abnormal.

Eren felt numb as the titan peeled itself from the tower and began lumbering away in search of more prey.

Armin knew what Eren would do before he could react. He yelled for his friend to stop as he broke away from the group, but his cries were easily ignored. Eren was too far gone in his blind rage to heed any sort of warning.

Completely livid, Eren charged forward angrily after the Abnormal while the surviving members of his squad followed after him with far less willingness as they had had before.

Focused as he was on his oblivious target, he did not take into account his surroundings and was soon attacked by a smaller titan that hid amongst the buildings when he was preparing for the killing blow.

A sharp pain below his left knee that was followed by a startling sense of absence sent a jolt of shock through Eren, the young and thoroughly inexperienced soldier crashing face first into the shingles of a couple roof tops. It felt like forever, he was sliding for so long, until his momentum finally burned away and he came to a painful stop.

Dazed and confused, Eren was only vaguely aware that he was missing his left leg, feeling rather like he had lost something that he could not quite recall. His thoughts were fogged by the heavy concussion, making it difficult to focus on anything, much less what had just occurred. All he was certain of was that he was in a great deal of pain and was tremendously exhausted.

At this point, he just wanted to sleep while the world around him became a hellacious nightmare.

X

She surveyed the scene carefully, balancing precariously on a church spire as she analyzed the situation at hand. It was while she was trying to decide on a course of action when a swift flash of movement caught her eye.

She turned to see a figure jump into the gaping maw of a bearded titan, wrangling out a fallen comrade before he could be swallowed whole. Scrutinizing the young blond with narrowed eyes, she was struck with a since of familiarity as she studied his shivering frame sprawled out upon a shingled roof. It was difficult to tell at this distance, especially with the unfamiliar hairstyle, but could the young man be . . .

Against her better judgment and years of carefully disciplining herself to remain detached from the fleeting lives of her comrades, she made her way over to the blond cautiously optimistic. After all, what were the chances that the person was who she thought they were?

The boy didn't look to her when she landed a few feet behind him. Instead his eyes remained fixed upon the bearded titan's mouth. Following his gaze, painful recognition suddenly struck her as she looked to the boy's battered savior struggling to escape, all the while trying to keep the titan's mouth pried open long enough to do so.

"We can't die here . . ." he murmured, body trembling with the effort of it all. "Not when we've dreamt about the outside world, Armin. We've still got to go out there and see it. I've still . . ."

While he was straining his free arm out for aid, turquoise green eyes finally connected with deep black and she knew right then that she would be the last thing that he saw before the curtain of teeth fell shut.

She and Armin scrambled over themselves to reach him, but were too late.

Her name was just forming on his lips when the gargantuan maw slammed close with a chilling snap.

The arm that had once been stretching towards them for help spun forward in a spray of gore, as if to reach out to Armin's own outstretched hand. The two of them stared wide eyed at it until fell away from their view, disappearing into shadows.

The sound of the creature's thick swallow sent an uncharacteristic bit of nausea to her usually unflappable stomach, sickened by the finality it implied.

Armin began to scream with a seemingly endless grief, vocalizing the shocked disbelief that was trapped withering in her chest. Unlike him however, she couldn't let it get to her, not when they were in the middle of a battlefield. No matter how much she wanted to simply give up.

She wrapped an arm around his waist and hoisted Armin over her shoulder, jumping away in search of momentary shelter for them both to hide so that they could come to terms with what they had been unfortunate to witness.

Even as she swung through the ransacked town, she tried to grasp what she had seen.

But it was almost impossible to comprehend the fact that the boy she had been trying so desperately to reunite with for the longest time, the boy that had _saved_ her in more ways than one, was dead.

Somehow it just seemed absurd.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry about that month long hiatus guys, I needed to focus on my art class's final, so that took up much of my time I could've spent writing. But I'm back, so things should be back on schedule unless otherwise noted.**


	5. Call To Arms

Ch. 4

The crystalline shatter of glass momentarily startled Armin out of his grief induced stupor, the painful sting of wayward shards that cut into the skin of his face enough to return him to his unfortunate reality.

Armin tumbled to the floor unceremoniously as his savior stumbled and buckled underneath him. His back hit the wooden floor of the loft painfully, further bruising his already sore shoulders. Hissing through his teeth from the various aches and pains, Armin rubbed absently at his neck as he carefully sat up.

It took him a second to piece together the stranger lying on their side with their back to him and the abandoned loft space of some empty shop. When he did, he was reminded again of Eren's untimely demise and immediately fell back into his depression.

It should've been him; it was _supposed_ to be him. But instead Eren had to go and sacrifice himself to save his pathetic hide!

Why was he so helpless, so useless, so . . . weak? Why couldn't he have just died?

Fresh tears began to stream down Armin's cheeks as he hid his sobs behind his hand.

"Armin . . ." murmured a voice softy, catching his attention. "Are you alright?"

His sobs tapered off at the sound of her voice. He glanced over to his companion, staring perplexedly at the winged emblem on their green cloak. He didn't know of anyone in the Survey Corps, he was certain of that. But this girl knew him, or had at one point.

The young woman slowly got to her hands and knees, a long curtain of straight black hair obscuring her face from his view. It was quiet for a moment outside of her ragged breathing and his stifled cries until she sat back and brushed away her hair, soliciting a gasp of recognition from Armin.

"M-Mikasa . . .?" he stammered in disbelief. "Is that . . . is that you?"

She was obviously older, her facial features having already thinned into early adulthood and bearing a distinct femininity that had once been hidden by youth. Looking at her through the grey darkness, it would be easy for him to be mistaken—after all, it had been several years since they had last seen each other—but there could be no uncertainty when a scarf was wrapped around her neck and tucked into the collar of her shirt.

He didn't have to make out the color to know that the fabric would be red.

A tiny smile blossomed briefly on her face as she studied him, relieved that he would recognize her after all this time. She gave a curt nod to erase whatever doubt he may have had over her identity and said, "It's nice to see you again, Armin. I only wish the circumstances could have been different."

Her words may have been genuine, but Armin was not blind to the hollowness that gave it strained, artificial politeness. He knew that she was just as tormented as he was by what they had seen and was merely hiding it for his sake, because he was weak and needed to be spared further guilt.

"It's all my fault!" he suddenly interjected, bowing his head so she couldn't see his tears. "Go on, say it! You know it's true! If it hadn't been for me, Eren would still be alive. He'd be the one here with you and not me."

"Armin—"

"Don't lie!" interrupted Armin, his hands tightening into fists in his lap. "Given the choice, it'd always be him. But I can't blame you. Who'd ever want to save a guy like me?"

He waited for her confirm his words, or to simply walk away and leave him there to wither away in self-loathing, but she did neither. Instead, she took one of his quivering fists into both of her hands and held it gently. "Eren did," murmured Mikasa. "He saved you because you were his friend, not because you were some burden that he felt sorry for. I may have been too late for him, but I wasn't too late for you. And that makes me so glad, Armin. Because I at least got to save you, my dear friend, and I'm sure that's what Eren would've wanted."

Armin stared at her hands holding his for a few, dumbfounding seconds before dissolving into open sobs.

Mikasa listened to Armin's cries as she stared at him intently. In some ways she envied his emotional capacity and how it wasn't difficult at all to know what he was feeling just by looking at him. But when people looked at her, she had to wonder if they saw anything at all. She wondered if they thought she was as cold and heartless as she seemed.

Maybe it was better that way. At least then nobody knew how to hurt her.

Eventually, Armin had no more tears to shed and his loud sobbing became lesser hiccups as he rubbed at his bloodshot eyes. Mikasa waited for him to compose himself in silence, not knowing what to say. It had been so long since they had last seen each other—they were practically strangers—and Armin had always better at words than her or Eren.

A low, wet chuckle suddenly erupted from Armin, the sound of it sending a painful jolt of alarm to her heart.

"I knew it," he muttered to himself, chuckling some more and giving a disbelieving shake of his head. When he finally looked to her, a watery smile tugged up the corners of his lips in a modest smile. "I knew you'd still be alive. Eren always insisted that you weren't, but I could never believe that."

Mikasa flashed him a wane smile of her own. "You don't know how much I've wanted to see you guys again."

Armin cringed and curled into himself while Mikasa lowered her gaze to the floor, the two weighed heavily by the reminder of Eren's passing.

This was not what she had had in mind when she had spent thousands of nights imagining their eventual reunion. Their trio was one member short, and they would not be forgetting why that was anytime soon.

"I froze," he admitted in a hushed voice, as if he was almost too afraid to speak. "When it all started falling apart, I froze. I could've done something to help them . . . but I didn't."

"Nobody will blame you, Armin," insisted Mikasa. When he hardly looked convinced she added, "I don't blame you. Things like this happen, and they're well beyond our control. The best we can do is to move passed it, for their sake as well as our own."

His eyes darted to her green cloak and he gave it rueful smile. "I suppose you're very familiar with that kind of stuff."

"I have to be," she stated plainly, a brief glimmer of pain flashing across her eyes before an impassive mask settled upon on her face.

All Armin could see was a broken girl trying to appear strong for his sake. He didn't have the heart to test how fragile she really was underneath her cool bravado.

Impulsively he threw his arms around her and held on tightly. He noticed the way she stiffened in his embrace, and wondered vaguely if he had overstepped his bounds. But then she returned the hug, albeit a bit awkwardly, like she couldn't remember how to position her arms correctly or where to put her hands. He pretended not to notice though, instead taking comfort in her presence and the fact that she was real, and not some coping mechanism that his mind had concocted.

"What happened to you? Where have you been all these years?" he asked her, his voice a low whisper that was strained by sorrow and contemplation.

Mikasa's mouth opened, wanting so desperately to spill all of her secrets and shed away all the mystery that surrounded her whereabouts, but the words remained trapped in her throat. Now was not the time to get carried away with the likes of an old friend, as dear as he was. She was a soldier, and so was he. That had to come first.

She was saved from having to make this explanation when the toll of a large bell began to ring methodically somewhere in the distance.

"That's the signal to retreat," stated Armin when he noticed her pull away to listen to the sound.

She gave a nod showing she understood and rose to her feet.

"We'll exchange stories when all of this is over, alright?" proposed Mikasa as she offered Armin her hand.

He bit his bottom lip and glanced away from her even stare, choosing get to his feet without her assistance. When he finally looked back to her, she seemed nonplussed by his refusal, preoccupying herself with peering out the broken window for titans.

Mikasa looked over her shoulder and gestured for Armin to follow her. He gave a tight frown as he watched her jump out the window without much regard, fully believing that he would be right behind her.

For one, impossibly long second, Armin contemplated remaining there in the empty building. To do what, he didn't know, but it would undoubtedly be better than returning to the battlefield, even if the orders were to retreat.

But that lengthy second passed into a new one. And this time, he was rushing to catch up.

* * *

><p>Dispersed amongst several rooftops were the surviving members of various squads that had comprised the middle guard. Nearly all of them were tortured by the toll of the bell signaling retreat, crippled by the belief that they'd never make it to the other side of the wall in their current situation.<p>

"Hey, Jean," began Connie as he looked to the other boy sitting in what could only be described as resignation. "What do we do now?"

Jean gave a derisive snort at the benign question. "What _can _we do?" he shot back wearily. He lifted his head slowly and held it his hands, his fingers digging into his temples as if in doing so some brilliant plan buried deep in his subconscious would reveal itself. But the effort was futile. "We've finally been given orders to retreat, but we can't get over the wall with what little gas we have left. Now we're all going to die thanks to those fucking cowards."

"You can't mean they'd actually abandon the mission, abandon us!" protested Connie, his face tight with indignant infuriation.

"That's _exactly_ what I mean," sighed Jean. "But I doubt they'd just go and barricade themselves in HQ on purpose. My guess is that they're surrounded by titans, which is why no one has come to supply us with gas. It's that, or there's nobody left on this side of the wall. Either way, no one is going to be helping us."

Connie was beginning to become desperate and it felt like he was grasping at straws trying to come up with a plan. "If what you're saying is true, and nobody is going to come help us, then it's obvious what we have to do! We have no other choice but to charge headfirst into battle, and make it to HQ ourselves," he argued fervently. "Sitting here, waiting to die isn't doing us any good. Sooner or later were going to be surrounded by titans as well. And if we just keep running away from them, we're going end up losing what little gas we have left. If we lose that, then we'll really be finished!"

"What a rallying speech, Connie," muttered Jean, though his words lacked their usual bite of sarcasm. Instead he just sounded tired, as if he had already forsaken all hope of living long enough to see a new day. "How do you suppose we do that with what forces we have left?"

Connie had no answer to give, and his own hope seemed to falter as Jean continued to point out all the flaws in his plan.

"There's no one in the vanguard to lead us. Moreover, out of all the cadets stranded here, who do you think could possibly take on the difficult task of commanding such an operation, much less even want to? And even if someone were to step in and take command, it's not like we can do anything about the titans. The storage room is probably crawling with 3-4 meter class titans by now. It's impossible to fight them in such closed quarters."

"So . . . it's hopeless?" Connie surmised, unable to refute the likelihood of Jean being correct. His shoulders sagged and he moved to sit down beside Jean, finally admitting defeat.

Jean gave a long, drawn out sigh as he closed his eyes and massaged his temple. "Up to this point, I've done nothing but waste my life. Had I known beforehand that things were going end this way, then maybe . . ."

He let the thought trail off; it was too painful to voice otherwise.

But Connie knew what Jean would've said, because he was thinking the very same thing.

Meanwhile Sasha, having heard Connie's plan and finding it more or less reasonable, was attempting to bolster her comrades into going along with it. "Come on, guys!" she enthused earnestly. "Stand up! If we work together, I know we can do this! I'll go first, so all you have to do is follow me."

Her assurances could not reach the ears of her defeated comrades, most of them too traumatized by the ordeal of being stranded out in the middle of a battlefield to die. Add to it the fact that they had had to witness some of their close friends get killed by those monsters as if they had been nothing but ants, and they were practically inconsolable.

The hiss of retracting cables and air exhaust caught all of their attention, heads perking up hopefully as they looked to the sky. Initially, many were disappointed when it was only Armin, but then they noticed the Survey Corps soldier accompanying him, which piqued their interest.

Jean stared at the young woman, his brow furrowed in wary skepticism. "What's a member of the Survey Corps doing here? I thought they all left on some scouting expedition this morning?"

She didn't favor him with a response, merely standing there like some stone statue as similar inquiries were thrown her way. When it became clear that she hadn't been sent to rescue them all by the way she avoided their pleading gazes, most of them fell back into states of hopelessness and renewed attention was brought to Armin.

"What are you all doing just sitting here?" questioned Armin, his stomach churning with a bit of dread as he surveyed the clustered groups of soldiers and noticed their varying looks of resignation. Things did not look good if their expressions were anything to go by, making him feel tense with apprehension. He prayed that things were not as dire as they seemed.

Connie knocked on one of the air tanks to his gear, the metallic ring clanking loudly in their ears. "We're all low on fuel—definitely not enough to make it over the wall in one go, that's for sure." The youth glanced around where Armin stood and slowly he asked, "Where's the rest of your squad, Armin?"

Armin looked to all the questioning eyes that stared back at him and had to grit his teeth to keep from dissolving into fresh tears. His voice was stilted heavily with grief as he said, "My unit . . . was comprised of Thomas Wagner, Nic Tius, Mylius Zeramuski, Mina Carolina, and Eren Jaeger. All five of them fought valiantly and died heroic deaths in battle. I'm . . . I'm all that remains of Squad 34."

A tense hush of unease fell over them all as his words sank in. It soon became clear to them that if the great Eren Jaeger, renowned for being so passionate when it came to his desire of vanquishing the titans, could be killed so easily, then they were all doomed.

Panicked murmurings began to circulate amongst the stranded survivors. Before it could elevate into complete hysteria though, the young Survey Corps member spoke.

"Enough," she intoned sternly. "It's time you all gathered your wits about you and quit sulking here like you're already dead."

Her eyes glanced at each them quickly until they settled upon Marco and she pointed to him for further emphasis. "You," she said, voice clipped with unprecedented authority. "If we take out the titans around HQ, you can replenish your gas supplies and climb the wall, correct?"

"Yeah . . ." agreed Marco with a bit of uncertainty in his tone. "But even with your help, there's still just too many . . ."

"I can do it."

Her words were not meant as reassurance; they were merely fact.

"I'm strong, stronger than all of you," she said as she lifted up one of her paring blades to point at the sky. "Know this: I have the power to slay all of the titans that block our path, even if I must do it alone. As far as I'm concern, I'm surrounded by unskilled, spineless fools." She leveled her blade at them all in challenge as she continued almost scornfully, "You disappoint me. You can just sit here twiddling your thumbs and watch how it's done."

"Are you insane?!" questioned Jean as he eyed her with growing disbelief. "You're almost as delusional as Eren, and look where it got him. If you think that you can take them on all on your own then you're a fool."

She leveled him with a dark look that promptly ended his protest. There was a chilling wrath that surged underneath the onyx stone of her eyes that made Jean uncomfortable, as if he had given her great offense with his outburst.

"Doubt me all you like, but I bear the sigil of the Survey Corps—the Wings of Freedom—with pride and it should be proof enough of my skill. If I can't beat them, then I die. But, if I win, I live. And the only way to win is to fight."

The collection of stranded soldiers watched wide-eyed as the lone member of the Survey Corps launched herself off the roof and zoomed off towards HQ with Armin scrambling clumsily after her. Jean gaped at their retreating backs before his faced tightened with irritation.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?" he muttered to himself. "If that was you trying to motivate us into following you, you didn't do a very good job." And, for some troubling reason, her words sounded almost like something Eren would've said and that only irritated him more.

Still, there was no dying the fact that she belonged to a branch of soldiers who had to deal with these kinds of situations every time they left the safety of the wall. He didn't have to know anything about her to know that she had to be a skilled warrior. If she wasn't, then she would've been dead long ago.

For all their sakes, he hoped she was as good as she claimed to be.

Mustering up the courage he would need for what he was about to say, his eyes met briefly with Marco's and the other boy sent him an encouraging nod.

His friend placed too much faith in him; Marco didn't even know what he was going to say and yet he was willing to support whatever he had in mind. What had he done to deserve a friend like him?

Grumbling under his breath, he brazened his wavering resolve and turned to his former classmates with a heated glare. "I don't remember being trained to let our comrades fight on their own," he shouted to them all. "At this rate, we'll only prove that we're the spineless fools she says we are. I say let's prove her wrong and show her what we're all made of!"

Jean didn't know if anyone would follow after him as he leapt into the air and triggered the release of his grappling cables in his rush to stay in sight of Armin and the girl with him, he could only hope that they would. There were a few seconds where he doubted his words had been effective, but then a hearty roar followed in his wake and that was all the confirmation he needed to know that he had won them over.

Soon the air was rippling with swinging bodies struggling to make it through all the obstacles they were likely to face in one piece.

Their lives were left in the hands of a complete stranger.

Jean prayed she would be enough.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I posted this chapter slightly earlier than I typically do because I finished 3/4s of it last week and need to spend more time studying for my exam tomorrow. **

**No action in this chapter, but the character interactions between Mikasa and Armin were important to me and essentially the focal point of the chapter. There aren't enough scenes of just the two of them together (in canon or fanfics) and I hope to remedy that fact. And as the story progresses, I plan to have more scenes focused around other characters besides Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Next chapter will center around Armin, Mikasa, Jean, and possibly Annie (I haven't written enough to know if she'll have some screen time).**


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